On the morning of Oct. 31, 1978, Iran’s 19-year-old crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, stood beside President Jimmy Carter in the Oval Office. Officially, he was the heir to one of America’s closest allies in the Middle East. Unofficially, the Carter administration was already preparing for his father’s possible downfall.
Thousands of miles away, Iran was unraveling. Protesters flooded the streets, chanting “Death to the Shah!” Nationwide strikes shut down factories, schools, and oil fields, threatening vital Western interests. Before the cameras, Carter projected calm and reaffirmed the U.S.–Iran alliance. Behind the scenes, the White House was quietly planning for the collapse of the Pahlavi monarchy.
